Paris conference on accountability for notorious 1988 Iran prison massacre highlights challenges to human rights in Iran
Jurist News, September 3, 2024
On August 24, Paris was the venue for an international conference sponsored by Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI), dedicated to confronting one of the darkest episodes in Iran’s history: the 1988 Massacre. The event, titled “Accountability for Atrocity Crimes,” drew legal luminaries, human rights advocates, survivors, and observers from around the world, all unified in their demand for justice and accountability for the atrocities committed by the Iranian regime 36 years ago. I was in attendance.
The massacre, often referred to as the “1988 Prison Massacre,” involved the systematic execution of thousands of Iranian political prisoners, primarily members of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq/People’s Mujaedein Organization of Iran (MEK/PMOI) opposition group, following orders from Ayatollah Khomeini. The Paris conference highlighted the need to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice while also shedding light on ongoing human rights abuses in Iran.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, was the keynote speaker, emphasizing her vision for a democratic Iran. She pointed out that for the past 30 weeks, political prisoners in many Iranian prisons have staged hunger strikes every Tuesday to protest executions, and she urged the participants of the conference and all human rights defenders to actively engage in the “No to the Death Penalty” campaign.
Azadeh Zabeti opened the conference with a poignant set of remarks, setting the stage for an informative session supported by a powerful video documentary from the Ashraf-3 Museum in Albania where several thousand MEK members, including nearly 1,000 former Iranian political prisoners, reside.
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